In the eyes of this Confessarius, the swordsmanship Jeanne used could not be called exquisite; in fact, it couldn't even be called swordsmanship at all—it was merely a person with great strength brandishing the sword in her hand with all her might. However, every single time, her sword would strike his weak points with impeccable timing, without a single exception. This level of skill caused even this Confessarius to be astonished.
Because as the frequency increased, it was no longer possible to dismiss this as mere coincidence. This was indeed the result of the other party's precise calculations. Every sword strike seemed like a problem, and this girl was using her own sword to crack these difficult puzzles one by one. This swordsmanship, which appeared to be the result of precise calculation, was very similar to the Supreme Arts of Iberia.
Just who was she? Someone living in such a distant Ursus snowscape, yet capable of using Iberia Arts.
As for Jeanne, she did not understand what the Supreme Arts was. Under the guidance of Revelation, however, every sword strike was simply swung to the correct place. Nevertheless, multitasking to deal with these fellows was indeed quite tiring; after all, the fellow before her was no ordinary individual.
"A pity; that bottle of holy water I carried with me was actually used up just now. If I had holy water at this time, splashing it directly on them would solve the problem."
Jeanne also felt some regret because, after seeing the Sanguinarch just now, in a moment of excitement, she had splashed the entire bottle of holy water onto that fellow. But where was she supposed to get holy water at a time like this? There wasn't even a pool of water in this place; she couldn't exactly be expected to melt ice and snow right now to manufacture holy water, could she? The masked man in front of her was unlikely to give her that kind of time!
"Surrender. Even if you have ability, if we continue to fight, I cannot guarantee that you will be able to survive intact."
Seeing that there had been no progress for a long time, the Confessarius intended to make Jeanne see the gap between them. After all, currently, in order not to kill her, he had not gone all out. Similarly, he was also secretly cursing those bastards who cooperated with him; the information they gave him didn't contain a single bit of valuable content.
As for the other party's persuasion, Jeanne didn't listen to a single word. She looked at the nearly one hundred Sarkaz soldiers in the vicinity and suddenly had an idea. She slammed the flagpole heavily into the ground below, and a sensation of the earth shaking and mountains swaying was felt. Amidst this violent shaking, several earth dragons of massive size crawled out from the soil.
"Now, the gap in power between our two sides has returned to the same level."
A mocking smile appeared on Jeanne's face, and those big fellows, after waking up, headed directly in the direction of the Sarkaz soldiers. Regarding these suddenly appearing massive creatures, the soldiers, after an initial moment of panic, also reacted immediately and hurriedly began to find ways to resist the offensive of these strange creatures.
These soldiers held their swords and slashed at the earth dragons in front of them, but when the sharp blades struck the sturdy scales, only the sound of what seemed like metal clashing was heard. These elite Sarkaz soldiers only felt their hands lose sensation in an instant; that numb feeling, like an electric current flowing through the body, was truly difficult to forget.
In contrast, what about the giant beasts before them? Some scales had indeed been hacked through, but in the vast majority of places, only a white mark was left behind. However, because of the attacks from these fellows, the earth dragons, feeling the pain, roared at them, and their eyes also exhibited an expression of incomparable rage.
"ROAR—!" Amidst the angry roars of the earth dragons, a strong red light emanated from their mouths, and in the next instant, the light transformed into soaring flames. These soldiers, under such a terrifying attack, also sustained no small amount of damage. Several soldiers who were too late to escape were turned into fly ash in a single instant under this dragonfire.
"Since that's the case, let me see what kind of skills the legendary Confessarrii possess!"
Jeanne rushed toward the fellow who was unwilling to show his face with incomparable excitement. She didn't know what was going on today; after seeing this fellow, the fighting spirit throughout her entire body seemed to have been awakened. Jeanne even felt that her blood was gradually starting to boil during this battle. This was something she had never experienced before.
She was also very curious: just what was the reason that made her have such a strong desire for battle against the fellow in front of her? Was it because the other party was Sarkaz? Or was it because this fellow's strength was powerful enough? But when she saw that Vampire earlier, she hadn't had this kind of feeling!
But now was not the time to think about these things. Jeanne held her sword in one hand and her flag in the other, launching a fierce offensive toward the Confessarius before her. When the two clashed head-on, this Confessarius felt as if he had been struck by the kind of creature as tall as a mountain.
This was pure, unadulterated brute force, without a trace of technique mixed in. Yet it was precisely this kind of attack that was the type he disliked most.
"Fine, it seems I indeed underestimated you. Then next, I shall also aim to kill you as I begin to swing my sword."
After retreating several steps under such an attack, the Confessarius spoke unhurriedly to Jeanne. This time, he was truly going to get serious. He returned the longsword in his hand to its sheath and then stood there motionless, appearing to be performing a prayer, yet also appearing to be accumulating his aura.
Just as Jeanne intended to rush toward him, the Revelation in her mind began to sound an alarm, forcing her to take the sword in this fellow's hand seriously. While Jeanne was advancing toward him, that Confessarius retreated rapidly toward the rear, and the aura on his body became increasingly heavy.
At this very moment, Jeanne seemed to perceive something and crouched down; above her, a golden-yellow blade light sliced through the sky. Countless trees behind her were split in two under the effect of this strike; if Jeanne hadn't crouched down just now, she might have been cut in half at the waist.
The Confessarius did not remain idle either, raising the longsword that was still glowing as bright as daylight and hacking down toward Jeanne's head.
"CLANG~"
Amidst a crisp sound of metal clashing, the Confessarius was surprised to find that his swordsmanship, which could easily cut through even D32 steel, was easily blocked by that flagpole. What material was this thing made of? His sword had struck this item, yet not even a mark could be seen? Wasn't this a bit too sturdy?
The Confessarius somewhat disbelieved his own eyes; after all, his swordsmanship could cause damage even to the vessels of gods[1], yet here for the first time, it had failed to achieve any result. He was then kicked a long distance away by Jeanne once again. Fortunately, he had spells to heal himself; otherwise, this kind of fellow was indeed not someone he was good at dealing with.
Jeanne also discovered that the strike just now was indeed no small burden for this fellow; even the strength with which he swung his sword was not as great as before. However, although she didn't know exactly how strong this fellow was, he was truly capable of taking a beating! To be able to take so many hits from her and still be alive and kicking—this fellow was indeed the first. No, perhaps Patriot could also do it. But when Jeanne sparred with Patriot, she couldn't hit him as hard as she would an enemy.
And what about the Confessarius's side? He also miraculously discovered that the spells he used had no effect on this person at all! Spells that clearly could assist him in enduring this girl's attacks shattered instantly like a phantom when her fist struck.
However, currently, compared to the matter of capturing Jeanne back, his interest in fighting Jeanne was quite a bit larger than all his previous thoughts. After all, before fighting her, he didn't know that the swordsmanship he considered to be already perfected actually had so many defects existing within it. The young girl before his eyes was like having a precise calculator; not only could she rely on her own strength to crush him, but she could also use exquisite swordsmanship to block his attacks. After only these few dozen rounds of engagement, he felt his gains were much more useful than his years of practice.
If he had enough time to battle her, to what level would his swordsmanship improve by then?
He wasn't clear, nor did he have time to think about this matter. While he was resisting Jeanne's offensive, he didn't notice Jeanne kicking him in the abdomen, sending him flying directly to the side of his soldiers. When one of the earth dragons discovered an extra "bug" appearing, a fierce flame accumulated in its mouth and sprayed toward him.
Seeing this scene, he couldn't care about his possibly ruptured internal organs and could only hurriedly use spells to resist this terrifying dragonfire. For a time, the flames set the forest ablaze. Even from a distant place, the bright light emitted as the fire burned could be seen
[1] I think he's talking about the Sui siblings or the bodies of the Feranmuts.